Why videogames need exercise ratings

In the next few months, Sony and Microsoft will introduce motion controls and exercise-based games to their game machines, to keep up with Nintendo’s Wii. In this guest column, child psychiatrist Paul Ballas argues for a new rating system that evaluates a videogame’s capacity to work you out.

I last played a Legend of Zelda game more than 20 years ago. I remember spending hours sitting in front of the TV, pushing the same three buttons over and over again.

At this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword put me through a very different experience. The game requires the player to stand and make wide, fairly realistic sword swipes with a Wii controller. While not a rigorous workout, it was much more active than my last attempt at saving the princess.

Skyward Sword wasn’t the only game at E3 causing players to get up off the couch and break a sweat. New hardware is paving the way to much more physical gameplay. The PlayStation Move, a wand that mimics the Wii’s revolutionary motion controller, lets players use precision arm and body motions to interact with games. The camera-based Kinect for Xbox 360 turns gamers’ entire bodies into controllers. Ubisoft’s Innergy Sensor tracks several biometrics including breathing and heart rate, and incorporates the information into gameplay. It is similar in functionality to a previously announced device, Nintendo’s Vitality Sensor for Wii.

All this new motion-control and biometric-reading technology means the world of gaming has changed in a fundamental way. Now that every major gaming console is moving toward motion-control devices, we seem to have reached a tipping point: Both the technology and artistry of videogames can legitimately combat childhood obesity in a way not previously possible.

Potential Rating System

Sedentary: Games played by pushing buttons while seated. No increase in heart rate, no increase in metabolic rate. Comparable to reading or watching television.

Low intensity: Games that result in an energy expenditure of two to four times the resting metabolic rate. Comparable to walking.

Moderate intensity: Games that result in an energy expenditure of four to six times the resting metabolic rate. Comparable to brisk walking.

High intensity: Games that result in an energy expenditure of six to eight times the resting metabolic rate. Comparable to jogging.

The technology I saw at this year’s E3 was designed to give consumers new forms of entertainment. However, if the videogame industry puts its immense resources into developing fun games that give players a cardiovascular workout instead of simply churning out the type of couch-bound, pixel-hunting games companies have often been forced to defend, there is a real chance of striking a blow against childhood obesity, which has become a major public health crisis in the United States.

Decades of research on obesity in young people has revealed a consistent finding: People exercise more regularly if they do something they enjoy. Historically, exercise videogames have been a lot like exercise videos; they attempt to be fun but mostly wind up being a workout to be endured rather than an enjoyable activity people look forward to performing.

This is where the very real artistry of videogames is important for public health. As Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft strive to come up with more enjoyable motion-based games for their consoles, I think we will see a decrease in childhood obesity because the hours that kids spend playing videogames will burn real calories. New controller interfaces, coupled with the competitive pressure to develop fun, active games, could revolutionise the fight against childhood obesity.

To help foster this new era in gaming, I believe the time is right for a new, additional ratings system for videogames that shows the average calories burned per hour while playing the game. This secondary rating scheme would be similar to the current Entertainment Software Rating Board system, which helps parents understand which games include content appropriate for their children.

Similar to Food and Drug Administration-mandated labels on food, an exercise rating system could estimate the calories burned by the average person in an hour of gameplay. The label could range from Sedentary for lean-back, button-intensive shooting games to Active for games with a calorie-expenditure rate comparable to playing basketball. Alternatively, an independent organisation could estimate the minimum calories required to play a videogame per hour, and that rating could be put on the game’s label.

Implementing such a system would go a long way toward helping families make informed decisions about gameplay. The videogame industry should seriously consider such a policy, so that videogames can become part of the solution when it comes to childhood obesity.

Paul Ballas is a child psychiatrist who serves as a medical adviser and writer of pro-social, pro-health and educational videogames for children and adults.

Edited by Olivia Solon

Comments

I truly believe that Paul is on to something. I think it's the responsibility of game designers to try to at least test the idea out. I've made a response to Paul's write up after seeing it on the American Wired site. If you're interested in seeing my point of view on Paul's idea, you should check out the post here:

"I fully agree that game designers should put excercise labels on the games they make. Not only will it allow people to see what they're getting themselves into, but; it will hopefully also lower children and young adults chances of obesity..It will also get us young adults to start making wiser decisions at an earlier age for our health.. we will start thinking things like "hmmm is this game really gonna help me out in anyway other than just entertainment?" or "do i really need this game, it looks cool but the excercise label says its has low intensity."